Trixie Mattel performs onstage during OUTLOUD Music Festival at 2024 WeHo Pride on June 02, 2024 in West Hollywood, California Source: Amy Sussman/Getty Images

Trixie Mattel is Putting Drag on Hold

Kilian Melloy READ TIME: 3 MIN.

Drag icon Trixie Mattel is hanging up her sequins, but don't worry: It's only a summer hiatus.

The drag star disclosed her plans to give her onstage persona a rest in comments to Elle Magazine, which thumbnailed her busy schedule since placing sixth on "RuPaul's Drag Race" way back in Season 7.

"She has since won season 3 of 'RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars,' become a YouTube darling, judged 'Queen of the Universe' on Paramount+, and most recently premiered 'Trixie Motel: Drag Me Home' on Max," Elle recounted.

"She's released music, is a successful DJ and podcast host, and has a makeup company. She's the Jennifer Hudson of 'Drag Race,' taking a non-winning finish and milking it for all it's worth."

But any hard-working performer needs some down time, and Mattel has decided this summer is when it's going to happen for her.

"I can't really do it anymore," Mattel told Elle, after giving a rundown of her career, which, she noted, she had built "brick by brick."

"I'm going on a three or four month sabbatical: July, August, September, and October," Mattel added. "I'm not even doing social media, so I'm going to really be gone for a while."

Even when she comes back, the drag icon said, it won't be to the same level of non-stop hard work.

"The Trixie we know, the Trixie that is on every YouTube video, on every show, and every TV show, I just can't sustain that anymore," Mattel admitted. "This giant rat wheel that I've been running on, I need to pull back a lot."

Mattel had a picture for what might take the place of her years-long full-tilt career. "I want a family, and I want a life, and I haven't really had that," she explained. "I'll probably grow a beard."

"Besides, the other drag queens have been waiting for me to take my high heel off their throats for years," Mattel quipped. "They love it when I get a sick day."

Mattel wasn't shy about detailing every not-so-glamorous step on her ladder to fame, recalling her various jobs in the service industry (ice cream server, barback, cocktail server) and talking about how even her drag career has largely been a one-woman operation.

"In a world with nepo babies, I came from nothing," Mattel told Elle. "I was [from] the poorest family in a small town. I grew up in a trailer with six people. My expectations for what I could do for myself were so low, because even when I went to college and got my first job, I felt rich. I felt so successful that I could pay my bills. When I was lip-syncing at Hamburger Mary's Milwaukee, the fact that I could pay my bills, pay my rent doing drag, I felt like Beyoncé."

"I never expected to keep going," the drag sensation added. "I save all my money, because I always think this probably will go away. If I want to quit someday, I will quit, and I'll quit with a lot of dignity because I did it all."

Enjoy your holiday, qween!

Trixie may be giving herself an intermission but you can still catch her on Max, with the second season of her show "Trixie Motel: Drag Me Home." Check out the trailer, below.


by Kilian Melloy , EDGE Staff Reporter

Kilian Melloy serves as EDGE Media Network's Associate Arts Editor and Staff Contributor. His professional memberships include the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, the Boston Online Film Critics Association, The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association, and the Boston Theater Critics Association's Elliot Norton Awards Committee.

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